


Going Back

by 0Lauren0 (AnimeMangaZoo)



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-15
Updated: 2012-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-31 05:38:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/340525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeMangaZoo/pseuds/0Lauren0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Village is attacked. Naruto uses a family scroll but last minute Madara and Kabuto cause it to go haywire. Now Naruto and other need to push harder than ever before to save everything. Before manga war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN ANY ORIGONAL NARUTO CHARACTERS OR STORY LINE!

Chapter 1

Naruto landed back in the campsite holding his upper side. The village had been under attack from Madara and his group for the last three days and they were wearing thin even with the help from the Sand. Shikamaru looked at him as he stumbled to the table where Shikamaru, Shikaku and Tsunade stood working on plans for the fights.

"The west wall is holding but not for long. Sasuke is holding it for now but Madara's pushing harder and harder one the two of us." Naruto reported before he winced at a deep breath. "It's not going to be long before we're over run out there."

"How bad is your wound?" Shikaku asked seeing Naruto shift slightly still holding his upper side.

"It's nothing. Sasuke or me will be back in another couple hours for another report."

"Naruto." Tsunade warned making him look at her. Even at 19, he still knew when she meant business and knew better than to avoid her orders. "Let me see." He winced as he shifted letting her see the large wound. "Naruto!" She scolded as she started healing it.

"The fox will heal it, Granny. Save it for the village." Naruto said pulling back as he disappeared in a flash of yellow. Tsunade looked after him angrily before she turned back to trying to figure plans out. Naruto slammed his fist into a summons that was about to attack Sasuke.

"About time you showed back up Dobe." Sasuke said as the two stood side-by-side getting ready to attack again. "You get that wound taken care of?"

"What wound?" He smirked as Sasuke rolled his eyes and the two took off through the army stomping towards them.

Three hours later Naruto saw a slug on his shoulder telling him to go back to base. He looked over to see Sasuke stop and look towards him. The two took off back to base landing at the same time as their friends. All looking at Tsunade confused.

"What's going on?" asked Kiba as he looked around.

"We need to get things worked out quickly before we are over run." Tsunade said.

"Having all of us here isn't helping out there." Sasuke said before Naruto made a hand sign and suddenly there was a bright yellow flash before Naruto dropped to a knee making Sasuke catch him as Sakura ran over quickly only to have Naruto wave her off.

"Naruto..."

"I'm fine, Granny. What are we going to do?"

"There's no way to come out alive in this." Neji said.

"Then let's take them out with us." Kiba said making the others look at him.

"There's no way we're going to all just rush out there and take as many as we can before they kill us." Temari protested.

"There has to be some other way." Tenten said as the others started looking slightly worried.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ino asked as she stood with Sakura who was helping Sasuke to keep Naruto on his feet. The group irrupted in talk of what to do.

"Family records." Naruto said softly before looking up at Tsunade. "The records." Everyone started to quiet down.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked confused.

"The family records of the highest ranking clans held hundreds and thousands of scrolls on all kinds of things."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Do you think they had something that could help?" Kakashi asked as Naruto stood thinking for a minute.

"They do." Tsunade said making everyone look at her. "It's the best clan in the entire village, he made one."

"What are you talking about, Lady Tsunade?" Ino asked.

"Naruto…" They looked at him as he took a small breath before taking his full weight before he nodded and disappeared making everyone look around.

"What's he going to look for?" Shikaku asked making Tsunade look at him before Naruto landed beside Tsunade. He knelt on one knee before taking a breath and pushing himself up. He handed her a scroll and let her look at it.

"This is it." Tsunade said handing it back to Naruto. "Namikaze scroll, you know there are wards allowing only Namikaze to see it." She said as he nodded.

"What's the use if only the Namikaze can use it? The last one died with the fourth." Ino said as Kakashi watched Naruto look at him and Tsunade.

"What happens if you open it if you're not a Namikaze?" asked Hinata.

"You'll have you're chakra completely drained." Kakashi said as Naruto turned quickly to look out into the distance.

"This scroll will take as many as you chose to go with you. It's going to manipulate time and space and it will take you back to a time you choose. That's what Jiriaya had said when Minato told him about it." Tsunade explained as Naruto nodded. "You better get moving this army is not going to be held off for long." Naruto looked at her as Sakura and the others looked concerned.

"Naruto, you're already low on chakra, if you open that it will take all of your chakra." Sakura said as Naruto looked at Kakashi.

"Take team 7." Naruto nodded as they ignored the others telling Naruto not to open the scroll, that he was going to die. The army began swarming the village. Naruto opened the scroll scanned it and flew through signs until suddenly Madara was there going straight for Naruto making several signs of his own before everything went black.

There was a high scream in the blackness before things started to clear and a scene came into view. A young Ino stood looking down horrified before backing up.

"Where-where's my friend?" she asked as she backed up. "Where's Sakura?"

"What?" Sakura looked around before looking down seeing her pink skirt connected to the fishnet middle and the pink tank top with her knee high boots. "Naruto!" She said before jumping to her feet quickly before taking off to try to find Naruto. She landed on the Hokage tower and found Naruto unconscious as Kakashi landed to look at her as she started looking him over. They pulled his jacket free and found his massive wound on his upper side as he started to breathe shallowly. Sakura didn't waste any time starting to heal it as Shikamaru landed with them.

"Is he okay?" Kakashi asked as Sakura said back after a while.

"He'll live. He should have gotten this wound especially taken care of before any of this." She said as she looked at the spot that there had been a large gash opening his upper side up all the way through his bottom rib. "I stopped the bleeding and healed it for the most part but it's still going to take a while to have his ribs all heal. Several were broken one was cut all the way through. He's going to be sore."

"He used too much chakra too." They saw Naruto turn his head and groan as he started to come too. He slowly opened his blue eyes to see the two looking down at him.

"What happened?" He asked

"You almost died, that's what happened." Sakura said slightly angry as Kakashi helped him sit up. "What were you thinking? You're lucky the scroll didn't completely drain you."

"It wouldn't have." Naruto had Kakashi help him to his feet as several ANBU arrived surrounding them. The three turned and got ready to defend themselves. ANBU stood and attacked suddenly to capture them only to have the three move faster and more efficient than they had anticipated. Suddenly Naruto was gone in a flash and he had six ANBU sealed on the ground and he was sealing the seventh before he dropped to his knees holding his side with a wince making Sakura run to his side.

"Naruto…" She said as she steadied him and helped him back to his feet as he tried to calm his breathing.

"Minato?" They heard as Naruto stood and the wind gently moved his long jacket. They looked up to see Jiriaya and Tsunade standing by the doorway looking at them.

"No." Naruto said as he took his weight back from Sakura letting her keep him steady.

"Wha-what's going on? Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze." Naruto said making Sakura look at him shocked. "There's a war going on and we need to stop it before we're all killed from it."

"Naruto? What kind of joke is this? Naruto is only 13." Jiriaya said getting ready to fight as Naruto was about to fall and had to put weight back on Sakura. "What's going on?"

"There's a war, we need to stop it and we know how. We are here for that." Kakashi said as Jiriaya and Tsunade continued to watch Naruto as he shifted turning more towards Sakura letting his head dip as he spoke softly to her.

"Kakashi, Shikamaru." Sakura said calmly as the other man dropped beside them and the two looked at her as they saw her holding Naruto as he started coughing. The two move quickly helping her to ease him to the ground as he lifted his head to show blood coming from the corner of his mouth "Naruto…"

"What happened?" Tsunade asked as she and Jiriaya walked over to see what was going on.

"The war. He refused to have anyone heal him so he had massive damage; sealing those ANBU over there must have shifted something." She looked at him as she let her hands start to glow a soft green and she laid it on his side. "Naruto, you're going to have to use the Kyuubi. I can't stop the bleeding fast enough." She said getting worried as he started another coughing fit before he tried to force it to stop and he closed his eyes letting the Kyuubi through. Shikamaru and Kakashi took a step back as Naruto's eyes snapped open blood red.

"What…?" Jiriaya asked worried.

"Kyuubi, you have to stop the bleeding or Naruto will die. The red eyes closed and Sakura shoved as much chakra as she could into him. Suddenly Naruto grunted and looked around with blue eyes. "Naruto… does it hurt?"

"No, just wiped." He said softly.

"What the hell is going on? You can't be Naruto, who the hell are you?" Jiriaya asked "Who are all of you?"

"You don't believe me." Naruto smirked before he shifted to a crouch position before he bit his thumb and quickly made his signs and slammed it on the ground summoning a small red toad. "Who else can summon toads?" Jiriaya's eyes went wide as he watched Naruto take a slow breath.

"You're… you're really Naruto…" Jiriaya walked closer as Naruto released the toad and stood with the others.

"We need to see if anyone else was brought back." Shikamaru said looking out over the village. "Naruto, is there any way to find out if Temari came back or if we got Sasuke with us?"

"Naruto, you really shouldn't use too much chakra." Sakura warned.

"I'll be fine, Sakura." He said as he looked towards the west and he was gone in an orange flash. The two looked at the three left as they sighed.

"Naruto has grown a lot in the last five years." Kakashi smirked. "He's learned to control Minato-sensei's technique and he was able to turn it into his own." After waiting for five minutes, there was a flash and they saw Naruto breathing heavy as Temari helped hold him up. He slowed his breathing and stood straight as Temari went to Shikamaru.

"Naruto, what did you do?" Temari asked. "You were only supposed to bring you and your team back."

"I don't know. I opened the scroll and started I was on the last one when I saw Madara and that was it until I woke up to them." Naruto explained as he indicated the three from his time.

"Madara must have manipulated the jutsu as it was taking effect." Shikamaru said.

"It makes sense he is able to manipulate space if he was able to manipulate it while I turned the time and space… it makes sense."

"Naruto…" Jiriaya said making everyone look at him. "You're…"

"Smart." Tsunade finished as Naruto rubbed the back of his head before wincing from lifting his arms up. Sakura walked over to him with a small sigh.

"You need to be careful. Besides you know I have the chakra to be able to heal the village and the wounds you get." She started to heal him gently as Naruto smirked. "You know that."

"I know, but I can deal with injuries a lot better than others."

"You and Sasuke are too stubborn." She said shaking her head seeing him grin before he pushed harder on the place she was healing making Naruto wince and grunt.

"Sakura-chan." He whined as she finished healing.

"So what's your next move?" Jiriaya asked and saw everyone look at Naruto.

"We need to make sure Sasuke came back. He's the only one not in the village. If anyone else came back in the village they would have found us here already."

"How are we going to do that?" Temari asked.

"Sasuke?" Tsunade was curious.

"Naruto brought Sasuke back when we were seventeen. It nearly killed him and it took him almost a month to just wake up, and another three to heal." Sakura explained. "We had Sasuke locked up until Naruto was strong enough to help figure out how to free him."

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto was named a master sealer and the toad sage when he was seventeen. He was the only one who knew anything about the seals Madara was using, and he was able to free Sasuke of the jutsu Madara had put on him."

"It pulled both us close to death." Naruto said low. "He doesn't remember much but what he did saved the village for a while."

"Master sealer and toad sage?" Jiriaya asked raising an eyebrow as Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah, got other names too." He grinned before biting his left thumb flew through signs and summoned before anyone could say anything. "Hideo, track down Sasuke if he looks different come back and report. Otherwise help get him safe and get a message back to me."

"Yes master." Said a medium sized black fox before he lunged from the roof and was gone.

"Fox? I've never heard of a fox summon." Jiriaya said shocked as he saw Naruto grin.

"I told you, he's grown since the Naruto you know." Kakashi said. "He's the village's sealer, toad and fox sages and the orange flash." Tsunade and Jiriaya looked at Naruto as he grinned.

"Only the highest know about the foxes and I'm only the orange flash in the bingo books." Naruto explained.

"Naruto's not the only one who's grown is he?" Tsunade looked at the others who smirked and grinned as they looked at each other.

"Shikamaru the shadow stealer" Naruto started. "Sakura the slug sage and pink shadow, Sasuke the snake sage and the killing ghost."

"The others from our generation have their names too and most of us are in bingo books through the world. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke are the only ones listed in the book of every nation in the entire world and are listed as kage level opponents only." Shikamaru said as making the two old ninja look at Naruto and Sakura.

"That's only when there's at least two of us together. They're just supposed to run when it's one of us." Sakura corrected.

"How good have you gotten?" Tsunade asked looking at the two before they saw a snake slither onto Naruto's shoulder.

"Ssss-sasuke is on his way. Going through valley of the end." Naruto nodded as the snake disappeared.

"What do you want to do?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"Sasuke was beat almost as bad as I was. He's going to need help especially if he came through with his wounds."

"How bad was that?" Temari asked worried about her friend.

"Sakura and I will get him. I don't know what Madara had planned but we don't know anything about him from this time. We'll meet you at Uchiha compound." He looked at Sakura. "Ready?"

"Let's get him home." Naruto quickly swiped her into his arms and they were gone.

"We should get to the compound and start getting ready for whatever they need." Kakashi said as Shikamaru and Temari nodded.

"So you're saying that Naruto, the kid who could barely control his chakra and was more stupid than the dirt, is not an amazing genius ninja?" Jiriaya asked as Kakashi chuckled.

"Something like that. I'll explain at the compound." He said before the three were gone running across the roof tops making the older ninja look at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Naruto landed in the valley and set Sakura on her feet as they looked around. Looking for anything that would tell them there was trouble before they saw Sasuke stumble into the clearing by the statues. He took several stumbled steps before dropping. They ran over as the fox stood looking at them. Sakura rolled him to be able to see the wounds. Sure enough, Sasuke had a wound on his upper chest. He had a large gash going through the entire upper chest and out the back with a deep cut to his abdomen and several broken ribs making it difficult for him to breathe. Sakura began healing as Naruto talked to the fox.

"I need you to head back to the Uchiha compound. Tell Kakashi that we're bringing him back. Sakura, what do you want them to do?"

"I'm going to need bandages and ointments. And pain medication. I can't heal these wounds completely and he doesn't have anything like the Kyuubi to get him back on his feet." Naruto nodded before the fox gave sharp nod before he was gone. "How are you doing?" Sakura asked Naruto as she looked at him from the corner of her eye as she healed.

"I'll be fine. Between you and Kyuubi, I'm almost completely healed. Gonna take a bit to heal some of the ribs and bruises."

"What about you're chakra?" He looked at her for a minute as she finished healing what she could on the upper chest. "Do you really think I wouldn't notice how low your chakra dropped after using that scroll? If you were anyone else you would have been dead."

"But I'm not someone else. Besides, it wouldn't have killed me. It's one of my family scrolls." Sakura looked at him. "My dad was the fourth."

"I know, Naruto. Shikamaru and I figured it out a long time ago. You look exactly like him, you've been able to master his techniques that are only for the family and one of your little spots is his old house." She paused with a small smile. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"Because I found out when I was fighting pain, and it wouldn't have changed anything after that." She sighed before going back to healing the last wound on Sasuke. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Naruto helped pull Sasuke up and they wrapped Sasuke's arms around their necks before Naruto glanced over at Sakura.

"You lead, I'll follow." She nodded and they two worked together. It took them an hour to get back, they met the others by the main house pulling Sasuke in, and laying him on the ground before Sakura got back to work doing what she could. "What do you need?"

"You have any of your scrolls left?"

"A few but I think they're just my kunai and stuff like that."

"You don't have any of the medical ones?"

"I'll check but I don't think so. We were getting over run." Naruto reached into his jacket pulling out five scrolls and laying the out between him and her.

"That's all you have left?"

"Yeah, used most of them trying to beat Madara back a bit." She sighed as she reached out and took one of the scrolls letting the others watch as she released the contents.

"At least you have one left." She smirked taking the ointment and bandages before getting to work. After an hour, Sakura leaned back exhausted. "We have to wait for his body to heal the rest. He'll be fine just unconscious for a while."

"You're amazing at your medical jutsus." Tsunade said looking down at the young woman.

"I had a great teacher." She smiled.

"Sakura, you need to sleep." Naruto said as he helped her stand up and Temari took her.

"Come on let's find a clean room in here." She helped Sakura walk down the hall to find a place to sleep while the others were left.

"So you've gotten stronger." Jiriaya said. "How much stronger?" Naruto grinned as he shook his head and walked out making his old teacher follow him before the others filed out. "Naruto, you're my student. How powerful have I trained you to be in the future?" Naruto stopped in his tracks and stood for a minute as Kakashi walked closer.

"Naruto..." He said making Naruto turn and look down sadly.

"You trained me really well, and the rest I had to learn on my own, on the go after you were killed." Naruto turned and was gone before anyone could stop him.

"We're going to have to wait for Sasuke or Sakura to get up now." Shikamaru said with a heavy sigh. "More than likely it's going to have to be Sakura."

"I think you're right." Kakashi agreed as the two older ninja looked at them. Kakashi sighed as he glanced back the way Naruto had disappeared in. "Let them explain, but we need to wait for one of them to wake up to find him. They're the only two who know his newest places."

"Sakura's asleep." Temari said walking back over to them. "Where's Naruto?" She looked at Kakashi and Shikamaru.

"He told Lord Jiriaya about him being killed and he took off." Shikamaru explained as Temari sighed sadly. "This one's going to take Sakura. How long do you think that's going to take? We came back for a reason so we need to start focusing on it."

"She started her healing thing and should be good in an hour at most. I think if Naruto was here she could get it even faster."

"That drains Naruto pretty far down though."

"Sakura was telling me that they had been working on one that didn't do that to him, so they could do it in the middle of battles and not have to worry about him going weak."

"Well it's no use now, so we just need to wait." Kakashi said as they followed him to a large room to sit and talk while they waited.

After three hours, Sakura walked into the room with Sasuke following her. She looked around and rolled her eyes as Sasuke stopped.

"Where's the Dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"He took off after he told me I'm gonna die." Jiriaya said as Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other.

"That one's yours." Sasuke said as he walked over and sat heavily as he winced sitting down.

"I'll get him. Sasuke, you're not completely healed yet, let everything have a chance to rest and mend before you start acting big and tough." She turned and took off quickly leaving the others. Sakura ran across the rooftops fast making sure not to be seen before she landed in a little clearing seeing Naruto sitting on the roof of the old building. She slowly walked over and jumped to the roof to sit next to him.

"I thought it would be cool to see him again." He said not looking at her; instead, he focused his eyes out at the surrounding trees. "I thought it would be cool to be able to talk to him."

"I know."

"I wanted to talk to him and show him what I can do now, but…."

"You always remember getting the news." He gave a small sharp nod still not wanting to look at her. "Well you have a chance to talk to him and show off. You shouldn't think about what happened in the past. Focus on the fact you get to see him again. Besides I know how much you like to show off." She smiled making him finally look at her with a small smile.

"How's Sasuke?"

"He's awake and with the others. He's going to be sore like you are, but he'll live."

"Who said I was sore?" He said looking away as she shook her head and pushed on his side slightly making him jump at the pain. "Okay, I get it, I get it."

"How are you feeling with your chakra?"

"It's getting better, almost back to full." He looked at her with his bright blue eyes for a minute. "How about you. You drained yourself pretty far healing me and Sasuke right after doing everything in the battle."

"I'm okay, I slept for a while and I used one of my jutsus to boost it. I'll be okay though. I'm just as tough as you and Sasuke."

"I know you are." He smirked as she leaned over resting her head on his shoulder. "We better get back and start getting this worked out." She nodded as they stood up and started back to the Uchiha Compound as the sun sank in the sky. They walked into the room seeing them all still there talking.

"'Bout time, Dobe." Sasuke said making Naruto give him a look he knew well before both gave a smirk.

"Granny, aren't you supposed to be working or something?" Naruto asked turning his bright blue eyes back to her and Jiriaya.

"What's it matter to you, brat?" Naruto smirked as he looked at Jiriaya before turning his eyes to look at his friends from his time.

"Let's get this going and get things fixed." Naruto sat next to Kakashi as Sakura took a seat next to him.

"So what exactly do you have to do?"

"Kill Madara Uchiha."

"And Kabuto." Sasuke added. "We may be able to get Itachi's help now that we're in a time when he's alive. We need to try to get the Akatsuki disbanded. They only give him strength, even now." Naruto nodded.

"But how do we get a group of evil ninja to disband from their leader?" Temari asked.

"We go one by one." Sasuke said making everyone but Naruto and Shikamaru look at him. "We pull them apart at the seams. No one knows how powerful we are now; they all still think we're thirteen."

"You gave that up when you came running here."

"I escaped without anyone knowing. There's no way they could find out."

"You can't possibly know that. We don't even know if Madara and Kabuto came back here. All we know is we're here because Madara screwed with the signs while Naruto was working the jutsu."

"Even if he did, there's no way they could know I am here."

"Enough." Naruto said making them stop and look at him as Tsunade and Jiriaya looked at him curious as he kept his eyes unfocused looking at the ground in the middle of the group before looking up at everyone. "Sasuke's right. There is no way to tell he is with us, but Temari has a point. He did screw with the signs, we don't know what happened. Shikamaru and Temari weren't supposed to come back with us in the first place but they did." He paused taking a breath as he looked away thinking.

"What do you want to do?" Kakashi asked as Naruto looked up at him.

"We need to get a plan in case they are here. If they did come back, we need to be prepared and I think going after the members one by one is a good idea. Shikamaru?" He looked at his friend who was lying back lazily against a wall.

"I'll come up with something. Between me and Temari we can get something worked out for both plans."

"Then we should heal until we have a full plan worked out." Sasuke said as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah." Naruto turned and walked out making Sakura turn to follow him as the two older ninja looked at the others for information only to see them shrug. They stood and walked out seeing Naruto and Sakura talking down the hall. They ducked into a side room to watch, wanting to know what was going on.

"Naruto, we'll get this worked out."

"I know, Sakura, but how long before we go back to nothing? Everyone's probably gone now anyway. Sasuke and me together had a hard time holding up out there."

"Naruto, trust our friends and us to save everything. We were trained by the best. Me, you and Sasuke are the best in the world and we've helped train our friends to be as good as they are. You really think we can all win this?" He looked at her as she dared him to disagree only to see a smile start to spread.

"I know. Granny should have been in the camp she should have been in with the villagers and kids getting away."

"Naruto, we needed you on the field. If she wasn't there you would have had to stay in the camp and we wouldn't have been able to last as long as we did." The two stood looking at each other before Naruto gave a smile as she shook her head.

"You can be pretty smart sometimes." He grinned before

"And you can still be so dimwitted." She laughed before both their head snapped as they heard something from down the hall. Tsunade and Jiriaya were still looking at each other in shock not noticing Naruto and Sakura look at each other before back down the hall.

"Sakura-chan I think we have some eavesdroppers." Naruto said as the two's hearts sped up.

"Naruto, don't." Sakura said as he gave her one of his famous grins. "Naruto, you know what she'll do to you." She warned as he shrugged. "I don't want to hear it. I'm not going to fix you this time." Suddenly Naruto was gone. Tsunade and Jiriaya stood still wondering what was going on.

"What you looking at?" He asked making them both fall through the cracked door and into the hall way startled. Naruto walked from the room as Sakura walked down the hall towards them.

"We…uh…" Jiriaya stuttered.

"We wanted to know what was going on. You are different than how we know you." Tsunade helped as they stood up and saw Sakura give Naruto a sympathetic look as he shook his head and tried to play it off.

"I've been through a lot. Grew up along the way, that's all. I have more important things to worry about other than acting like a class clown or the village prankster."

"Naruto!" They heard before they saw the other start running down the hall to them. "Naruto, he's here." Sasuke said as he held out the dead snake. Naruto's face changed from his happy carefree self to a serious leader as he started think quickly.

"What's going on?" Jiriaya asked as Naruto turned and went out to look at the night sky from the roof top.

"Kabuto's sending a message using the snakes." Sasuke said. "Madara's going to go for the toads next."

"The toads?"

"He sent a message saying he knows Sasuke's here and to show us that they are here and next it will be a message to make Naruto go after them." Sakura explained as they stood out in the cool air looking up at Naruto on the rooftop with his eyes closed

"How good has he gotten?" Tsunade asked.

"You're about to find out." Sasuke scowled as he and the others from their time pulled Kunai. Jiriaya and Tsunade looked at them before they were surrounded but ninja covered in black. Sasuke lunged as Naruto flipped down helping while the others spread around fighting. It didn't take long after Shikamaru was able to use his shadow techniques and the others showed off a little of their power. They were down to the last ten when Naruto glanced over from his fight to see Sakura holding well before suddenly she was stabbed in the back. He narrowed his eyes as he saw her drop to her knees. Everything seemed to be running in slow motion before it suddenly sped up and Naruto was pulling from the fox killing the last remaining ninja. He settled to fox as he walked over to Sakura who was trying to heal her wound as she winced and cough only to pause seeing the blood fall to the ground in front of her.

"Sakura…" Naruto said as he pulled the kunai out and had her lean back against him as Tsunade knelt and quickly started to help heal

"Naruto, the kunai…." She said as he nodded.

"I know." He said before looking around. "They meant to get at least one of us with it."

"What's going on?" Jiriaya asked as Tsunade looked at Naruto who was talking to Sakura softly.

"Sakura, what do you need?" He asked as she started to close her eyes. "Tell me what you need to fix this." He said roughly making her open her eyes.

"I need the…" She paused as she tried to take a deep breath. "The book….. Jonin…" She trailed off as he eyes drifted closed.

"Sakura. Sakura." He said trying o get her to wake up before checking to make sure she was still alive. He looked away before he lifted her in his arms and handed her off to Sasuke. "Take her to a room. I gotta get the book."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Naruto, what book is she talking about?" Tsunade asked seeing Sasuke turn and carry the teammate to a room.

"Try to find out what it is." He said ignoring Tsunade before he took off.

"What did she say?" Kakashi asked.

"She said she needed a book, and she said Jonin." She explained.

"It's got to be that really old book Naruto gave her when she became a Jonin." Temari said. "It was one that dated back to like the creation of medical jutsu. He gave it to her as a present for becoming a Jonin."

"A Jonin?"

"They're all Jonin now. Even Naruto." Kakashi said

"Naruto's even higher." Shikamaru said.

"Higher?"

"He getting the book?" Sasuke asked as he walked over to join them.

"Yeah." Temari said. "She wake up at all?"

"She was in and out."

"I'll go sit with her until he gets back." She left as Jiriaya and Tsunade turned their attention to the others.

"So he gave her a present?" Tsunade asked curious as Naruto landed in front of them wincing and grabbing his chest. "You're hurt."

"I'll be fine. She say what it was?" He asked as he pushed himself to his feet and started walking with Sasuke to the room she was in.

"She only asked for you." Sasuke said as he walked in beside his friend. Naruto knelt beside Sakura who was lying on the bed opening her eyes.

"Naruto…"

"It's okay, Sakura. Just tell me what one. I have the book."

"Naruto…" She trailed off again as he laid the book on the bed and reached out to smooth her hair from her damp forehead. "Naruto…"

"Sakura-Chan, tell me what one it is." He said softly as her eyes started scanning his.

"Night…..shhh"

"Nightshade?" He saw her nod as Naruto quickly ran through the book before finding the pages with the antidote. He paused and tensed reading over the directions before looking up horrified. He tried to think, his entire mind wanted was to get her better it wouldn't work through the steps Sakura had helped him learn through the years. Suddenly he stood and turned walked out finding the others by the door. He walked over to Tsunade. "Granny, can you make this?" He asked holding out the book for her to skim.

"Naruto, even if I make it, the skill needed to use it…. it's not an antidote that can be used by ninja, they have to be incredibly powerful ninja." She looked at his determined and scared eyes before he turned away walking back towards the door.

"Just do it." He said before disappearing into the room.

"Naruto is a lot stronger than you think. We all are." Shikamaru said looking at the doorway. "He can do what needs to be done."

"This will kill him." Jiriaya said looking at the book over Tsunade's shoulder.

"It won't." Sasuke said. "Just make the antidote. He knows what he's doing." Tsunade nodded and went off to do what she could. "He's not going to let her die, so if it comes down to it he may end up dyeing to save her if that antidote isn't made." He turned and was gone. Jiriaya looked at Kakashi for an explanation.

"We all got really close over the years." Temari started. "We see one get hurt and it hurts us too. Sasuke is brilliant and has power behind it; Naruto is powerful and determined to keep his friends and village safe. And Sakura… she's very gifted with medicine. She's been able to counter anything that is thrown at them. She has saved hundreds of people with her new jutsus…" She trailed off as they all looked at each other leaving Jiriaya confused still.

"That's why they went after her and not one of us." Shikamaru said shoving his hands in his pockets,

"Madara's message to me." They turned to see Naruto leaning against the doorway. "He is trying to pull me out in the open in a blind rage."

"But why Sakura?" Jiriaya asked.

"Because of my connection to her." He paused looking at his old teacher. "He takes her out and there's a chance the Kyuubi could take control."

"You would let that happen?"

"I wouldn't really have a choice. Kyuubi knows Sakura and knows that if anything happened to her… Madara knows a bit about us and how we all work. He knows I'm the biggest threat and he wants the Kyuubi for his collection of tailed beasts. He takes Sakura away; I wouldn't hesitate to go after him."

"Only if she dies?"

"She needs me here right now." He said to his teacher as he stared surprised. "I told you I grew up. I know what I need to do and where I'm needed. I have more important things to worry about than some game."

"You don't seem like the kid I know."

"I'm not. I grew up training and protecting everyone I could. I stopped being that dumb ass kid who ran around playing games a long time ago. The village, my friends, and Sakura are more important than trying to get even. All that ever did for me was making me nearly lose my best friend."

"What happened?"

"Sasuke almost killed Naruto because of revenge." Shikamaru explained.

"Tell Tsunade to hurry it up." Naruto said before turning back hearing Sakura cry out.

"He just called her by her name?" Jiriaya asked before looking at the others. "What's going on? He is completely different."

"You were killed when he was sixteen. He trained with the toads and was called back to the destroyed village. The Akatsuki attacked looking for him." Kakashi said. "He saved everyone and defeated Pain. An enemy that even you couldn't beat. He did it by himself, and he's been working hard ever since. Training to bring Sasuke back and keep everyone safe."

"He knows what's important and since Lady Tsunade named him the sixth he's been even more serious." Shikamaru said machining Jiriaya's head snap to look at him.

"Sixth… Hokage?" He stammered.

"Yeah." Shikamaru shrugged. "Been that way for the last six months. Naruto handed the job back to Lady Tsunade for the war so that he could be in the field."

"If he wasn't out with everyone else there's no way we would have lasted as long as we did." Temari said. Jiriaya looked at the others before looking back at the doorway Naruto had gone through. "We should find a way to get things moving and get this over with."

"When Sakura's better, Naruto's going to want to go right out." Shikamaru agreed as he walked over with Temari leaving only Jiriaya and Kakashi. Kakashi walked over closer to Jiriaya who was still looking at the doorway.

"Your death really affected him and he had a hard time dealing after, but he's always been strong and stubborn. He pushed forward making it his mission to stop anyone else close to him from getting hurt." Kakashi watched Jiriaya nod slowly. "You should talk to him about it. When you are mentioned it usually doesn't turn out so well for him." Jiriaya nodded as Kakashi walked away letting the old sanin walk over to the door. He stopped listening to the voices he heard inside.

"Naruto, you can't do the jutsu." Sakura said softly.

"You aren't powerful enough to do it now. And no one else here is able to do it. I'm the only one and you know it."

"It will….. Kill you."

"If I don't, it will kill you. I'm not going to let you die. I will heal you, no matter what it takes. You know I can't let anything happen to you, Sakura-chan."

"This isn't your choice."

"It's my choice as long as I'm alive. If you die… Sakura-Chan, I can't lose you. I can't…" Naruto trailed off softly making Jiriaya look through the crack in the door to see Naruto dip his head as Sakura slowly and gently placed her hand on his cheek.

"I'll never leave you. I told you I am by your side forever and I'm not going to break that promise any time soon, Naruto-kun." She whispered. Naruto shook his head before leaning farther down kissing Sakura.

"I can't take much more. I lost so many people and this war… Sakura…"

"Naruto….. You don't need to worry about everything….. There are some things that you can't…. you can't help….. Don't forget that…."

"Sakura-Chan…."

"Don't….."

"I love you…." He whispered as Jiriaya watched him run his hand gently over her forehead pushing hair from her damp skin and down to her pale cheek as she let her eyes slide closed. "Don't, leave me."

"I won't… I am glad…. Glad we finally got together…." She trailed off as she fell asleep. Naruto still brushed her hair back before he head the knock at the door making him look up as Jiriaya walked in. Naruto looked back down at Sakura as he sat back in the little chair he was in.

"Naruto….. Kakashi told me a bit about what happened over the years."

"Really?" He said still not looking up as Jiriaya walked closer. "What all did he tell you?"

"How you have been working hard to protect everyone, how you've saved your friends. How hard it was when I died." Naruto nodded.

"I had to grow up at some point. Everything happened so fast I just let it all go."

"What about being the sixth? That would explain why they always asked you what the plan was." Naruto nodded again as he glanced at Jiriaya. "Weren't going to tell anyone here were you?"

"What would it do but make you all gawk and ask questions. We don't need to be sitting around for days answering all of the questions you have. We need to find and kill Madara and get back to help finish this war."

"You've changed a lot since you were a kid." Naruto didn't answer, he only watched Sakura sleep before narrowing his eyes seeing her chest rise and fall very shallowly. He leaned forward and felt her pulse as he sighed. "You're really worried about the girl."

"Yeah, I'm worried. And Granny better hurry up with that damn antidote." He said softly as he gently ran his hand over her head.

"You're in love with her. I saw it even when you were a kid, only this…. this is different from what I saw." Naruto looked up at Jiriaya. "What happened?" Naruto stood quickly and walked closer as he spoke.

"You want to know what happened? I grew up without parents; I was beaten and hurt when I tried to get scraps to eat to stay alive. My best friend turned evil and ran off trying to kill me every chance he ha and when I finally found a relative and he went off to fight a ninja who was supposed to be the leader of a group who was after me. I was forced to train and learn to protect the only ones I had left. I pushed myself to the very end to make everyone happy and had my heart ripped out every time I tried to help. I was left with no one to be there for me no one to help me and each time I was expected to help and be great." He paused as he stood eye to eye with Jiriaya. "Finally Sakura gave me a chance. We were doing great and then I was named the sixth and things were finally looking up. Until Madara showed up trying to kill me so he could add the Kyuubi to his collection of tailed beasts so he could take over the world. I grew up real fast being through into a war where everyone around me died. No matter how hard I fought…"

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out making him turn and run to her side as she cried out in pain holding her side. Suddenly the others were at the door watching as Sakura rolled and screamed in pain. Naruto pulled her to him as he tried to shush her. They watched as he pulled from the Kyuubi, letting his chakra mix with it and soak into the wound, easing the pain. Slowly she stopped screaming and she relaxed slightly in his arms. He pulled back to continue to hold her as she drifted away again.

"Where's Granny?" Naruto asked without taking his eyes from Sakura face.

"I'll go see if I can find her." Kakashi said leaving. The others looked around at each other. Jiriaya watched Naruto's reaction to everything, wondering if he could do anything to make things turn out differently. Tsunade and Kakashi walked back in quickly with two vials of the antidote. She handed them to Naruto reluctantly after he gently laid Sakura down.

"Naruto, this is going to kill you. You do realize that right?" She asked stopping him and making him look into her eyes.

"Yeah, I know the risks of me doing this and not Sakura, but I'm not going to just sit here and let her die. Madara wanted to send me a message. I got." He turned taking the book from her and laying it on the bed beside Sakura. He scanned over the instructions before jumping to work. He had Sakura drink one vial before she blacked out again before he unplugged the second and took a slow breath.

"Naruto…." Tsunade said going to his side before anyone could stop her. "This is insane. Even I can't do this jutsu without something happening to me. If you do it…. Naruto…"

"I know the consequences and I'm not backing down." He said stubbornly before she watched him pour the second vial onto the wound and he started his list of signs to begin the jutsu. Slowly Sakura began to glow. As Naruto continued the signs the light grew brighter and brighter until everything was covered in light. When the white cleared, they looked around at Naruto unconscious beside the bed and Sakura still out on the bed. They ran over and checked Naruto to make sure he was still alive. Tsunade checked his vital signs before sitting back with a sigh.

"He's still alive. Not by much but still alive." She said as Sasuke leaned down over his friend. "Help me get him on the bed." Sasuke knelt and lifted Naruto, laying him on the bed next to Sakura. Tsunade checked his vitals again and felt the pulse slowing.

"Naruto…" Sakura said as she slowly opened her eyes looking at the scared and worried others before noticing Naruto lying next to her. "Naruto." She said pushing herself up quickly to look down at him.

"Sakura, you have to take it easy. That jutsu-"

"What happened?" She asked looking at the others as she ran her hand over his chest.

"He did the jutsu to save you." Sasuke said as Sakura's eyes went wide then turned back to checking Naruto's vital signs. She took a deep breath as she looked at Sasuke and narrowed her eyes.

"You let him do that? He was still hurt very badly from the war and the fight here. His chakra was nearly depleted and he pulled on the Kyuubi. I saw the chakra he pulled. How could you let him do this jutsu? It's going to kill him!" She yelled at Sasuke before she tried to form her chakra in her palm but her anger, and fear started to make her lose control over her chakra. Tsunade watched as Sakura started to lose control before Temari pulled her close and held her as Sakura started to cry feeling his heart slow even more.

"Sakura, he knew what he was doing. He knew what could happen and he was prepared for it." Sasuke said. "He wouldn't have stopped even if we told him too. He would gladly die to save you. There's no question about that." He said looking at her hard as she shook her head pulling from Temari.

"No…. no. You could have stopped him! Sasuke, you could have stopped him!" She yelled as she pushed him only to have Temari pull her back to her again.

"Sh. Sakura, it's okay. He's strong, pushed through worse. Everything will be okay." She shushed before looking up at the others. "Right?"

"No… he's dyeing because of the chakra he needed to use for that Jutsu." She said as she pulled away and laid back next to Naruto. She cuddled closer, laying her head over his heart and resting her hand on his chest. They watched as she closed her eyes and her hand was covered in a soft green chakra.

"Sakura." Tsunade said as she reached out.

"No." Sakura said sternly as she opened her eyes and looked at her old teacher. "No." She whispered as tears gathered in her eyes. "I can tap into the Kyuubi and get him to heal him."

"Sakura, you don't have the strength to control it." Kakashi warned before they all looked at Sasuke as he sighed.

"You both owe me." He said before he made three signs and pushed his hand onto Naruto's chest making him jolt as Sakura's eyes slammed shut.

"What's going on?" Jiriaya asked watching the three.

"They've become close in the last few years. They've created some jutsus that only they can use. This is one of them. They work together to hold the Kyuubi back and heal one of them." Kakashi explained. "They're the new generation Sanin in our time." Sakura gasped as she jumped back and Sasuke pulled away both breathing heavy as they looked at Naruto as he took a deep breath. Slowly his eyes opened and he looked around disoriented before his eyes fell on Sakura.

"Sakura-Chan…" He trailed off before slowly reaching up and running his hand over her cheek making her smile.

"Shh. Naruto, you almost died. Relax, sleep." She said holding his hand to her face and reaching out to touch his head making him fall asleep.

"Sakura, you're chakra…" Tsunade said looking at the young woman.

"It's still weak but it's one benefit of taping into the Kyuubi." She said pushing herself up to look around and settle on Sasuke. "We need to start planning, and getting things set."

"What about Naruto?" Jiriaya asked.

"He's going to be out for a few hours. We can get a basic plan going."

"I'll see what my Snakes can find. You should get the toads out looking for anything that could possibly lead us to the bastard Madara." Jiriaya looked at him as he bit his thumb and summoned a small green snake. "I want anything and everything you can find on Madara Uchiha." It nodded and disappeared.

"Sakura, you should get some sleep. You almost died from that poison and you just used a bunch of chakra." Temari said as Sakura nodded.

"I'll start working up something with what we have already." Shikamaru said. The group turned and started walking out ushering Jiriaya and Tsunade from the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So…" Jiriaya said once out in the little rest area. "They're together…." He trailed off, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear all they would give.

"Yeah, been like that for a while now." Shikamaru shrugged as he bent down and started thinking. Jiriaya and Tsunade looked at Kakashi for more answers. "Sasuke let me know as soon as you get anything."

"It would be so much easier if we had Naruto's foxes to help." Temari sighed as she sat next to Shikamaru.

"How long have they…?" Jiriaya asked.

"Dating for three years, engaged, six months now." Sasuke said walking past to sit on the roof and work his own jutsus. Jiriaya and Tsunade stood stunned as they looked at the only person left with them, Kakashi.

"Engaged?" They both asked at the same time making Kakashi smirk.

"A lot of them have gotten together. Their waiting for the war to be over to do anything more than they've started." Kakashi explained.

"We have a lot to do before we can think about that." Naruto said as he leaned against the doorway with Sakura standing next to him helping him to stay on his feet. "Don't start with me Sasuke." He said making everyone look above the door at Sasuke standing on the roof. "I don't need to be completely healed to work out a plan." He said as he pushed from the doorway wincing as Sakura took his weight.

"You sure you're okay, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"I have a war to end." He said sternly as he and Sakura walked over to Shikamaru and Temari to start working while Sasuke dropped from the roof.

"I have the snakes out looking. You think you can get the Foxes out there?" He asked as everyone started gathering around the four. Naruto thought a minute before shrugging.

"It mostly pulls from the Kyuubi anyway. I should be able to call Cho." He bit his thumb flew through the signs and summoned. When the little poof of smoke cleared they saw Naruto pale and barely sitting up, breathing heavy as he gave the orders to the fox and it was gone.

"Naruto…" Tsunade said kneeling on the other side of him as he leaned on Sakura as she tried to ease a little of the pain he was in.

"I'm fine." He said out of breath. "Just took a lot out of me. What do we have for now?"

"Not much, but our best plan is to have you heal completely and then we do some searching. Should be no time before we find them."

"They used a graveyard when they had me with them. It's possible they are hiding there." Sasuke added as he stood behind Sakura and Naruto.

"It's an option to check out, but I think we should only find information with your summons until everyone is healed, especially Naruto. We're going to need everyone to win this and you three are the only ones that can face Madara." Shikamaru said as they nodded. "Once we know where they're hiding we can get a plan worked out, but for now we need to protect ourselves."

"That includes you, Naruto." Sakura said as he nodded.

"I couldn't even fight with you if I wanted to. You won this time, Sakura-chan." He said still trying to catch his breath and leaning heavily on her looking pale.

"Good, then you won't argue when I tell you, you are going to bed and staying there until you can sit up on your own." He looked at her a minute before nodding too tired to argue.

"You really must be drained." Temari said as Naruto nodded and let his head hang.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed." Sakura said as Naruto nodded. "Sasuke, give me a hand." Sasuke bent and helped lift his friend to his feet and into the room.

"He didn't look so good." Jiriaya said looking at the open doorway. "Is he really going to be okay?" He asked looking back at the others.

"He'll be fine after he listens for once." Sakura said walking over to them. "He used too much summoning Cho, he's going to be out for a while on top of his low chakra to begin with and his wounds."

"Then let's get what we can done before he gets up and starts making us force him to relax." Temari smiled as she stood up and walked off with Sakura leaving the others to talk.

Two days later Naruto stood with the others talking when Jiriaya walked over to them.

"You're looking better." He smirked as Naruto grinned putting his hands behind his head.

"Comes with having the best medical-nin in the world as your girlfriend." Naruto grinned and looked at Sakura who shook her head. "You here to help plan?"

"Something like that."

"Master!" They heard making them all turn and see the fox run over to Naruto. "Two evil ninja are in the grave yard. They are making plans on your destruction, Master. They are very angry with you." everyone looked at Naruto as he nodded dismissing the fox.

"He must be pissed about that shot you took at him." Shikamaru said with a smirk as Naruto shook his head.

"No, he's pissed because I was able to run him through with a shuiken-resengon. Knocked him back pretty far and he stayed down a while before he tried to come after me again. He's pissed because he knows I can kick his ass." He smirked.

"You're so full of yourself." Sakura shook her head. "Well we know where he is and we know how to beat him, let's get moving before he finds out that Naruto and I are both alive and fully healed."

"I need to remake my scrolls and get more kunai and all. I'm all out." Naruto said as Sakura nodded.

"I'm going to need bandages and some herbs." She looked up at Naruto who dropped his hands from behind his head to flying through signs in front of him as Sakura did the same. Jiriaya watched as their features changed to make them look completely different. Naruto stood tall with black hair pulled back into a ponytail, dark brown eyes and normal Jonin clothing while Sakura's shoulder length pink hair turned to long brown hair with steel gray eyes and an outfit to match Naruto.

"Then let's get what we need." Naruto grinned as Shikamaru and Temari followed changing their appearances to they could get their own items.

Naruto and his group ran through the trees with Jiriaya towards Madara and Kabuto. Naruto stopped in the lead with Sakura and Sasuke on either side of him.

"How do we go about this?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"We should slip in and get it blown open." Naruto nodded before he turned around to look at the others.

"Sasuke and me are going in, we'll get in and open it up for you guys. Sakura-Chan, stay out of danger." He said looking at her as she gave a stubborn look, they all knew well. "I'm not kidding." He said before he and Sasuke took off leaving them to wait.

"They going to be okay by themselves?" Jiriaya asked Kakashi who was leaning against a tree waiting.

"They are two of the best." He said as they looked back over feeling rumbles from the ground. "Get ready, we're going to head in soon."

Naruto and Sasuke made their way through the underground tunnels as they searched for Madara and Kabuto.

"You actually know where you're going or we just wandering and hoping we run into them?" Suddenly a kunai was thrown down the hall making both move.

"That answer your question?" Sasuke asked before they both turned kunai ready just in time to block more attacks. "What do you think?"

"What are you asking me for? You were buddies with them for years." Naruto whispered harshly over his shoulder at Sasuke as they continued to block the onslaught of kunai from both sides of the tunnel.

"You're the one with the space movement jutsus." Sasuke said back.

"Can you hold them for a minute?"

"Yeah, I think, but not for long by myself." Naruto nodded, taking a deep breath before he was gone in a bright orange flash. Sasuke turned sideways with his sharingon and focused on staying alive while Naruto tracked through the space time jumps that Madara used. Sasuke dodged, blocked and tried to avoid all the kunai and shuriken he could before he started getting hit by more than he was avoiding. Suddenly the weapons stopped coming from the one side letting Sasuke recover and work on getting to the person still attacking. He walked into a large room as the weapons stopped flying to see Naruto jumping and shifting trying to avoid Madara when Kabuto came from nowhere attacking Naruto. Sasuke moved as fast as he could and blocked the attack, taking on Kabuto as his opponent. After wearing down the two old rivals came back to back to try to work together.

"Time to open up!" Naruto called as he charged forward at Madara again. Madara laughed at him watching Naruto try to fight him until he felt the air in the room shift eerily. Suddenly a dark purple light mixed with an orange making the entire place rumble. Kabuto and Madara looked around as the room started to crumble. Naruto and Sasuke charged releasing as much power as they could at the same time making the roof fall apart and fly through the air. Madara and Kabuto were thrown back hitting the walls hard not having a chance to do anything but look up as Naruto and Sasuke dropped to their knees next to each other breathing heavily after releasing such power all at once.

Sakura dropped between the two assessing if she was needed as the others dropped to surround them. Naruto and Sasuke both turned hatred filled eyes up to look at their opponents and pushed themselves to their feet calming their breath and setting up for another attack.

"You are foolish. No matter how many you bring you cannot defeat us." Madara said laughing at them. Sasuke stared Kabuto down as Naruto pushed closer to Madara as he started letting his chakra flow and whip around him.

"You are the stupid one. You two really think you can win against us? You could barely hold your own against me with an entire army attacking me beside you."

"You were lucky that was all and you will die before you even think about shifting your weight to attack."

"How's that gut wound holding up for you?" Naruto asked making Madara pause and glare at Naruto who smirked. "I know how bad I got you, and you are running from me, keeping your distance to avoid me getting a chance to hit you again." Madara shifted as the group shifted and charged at the two enemies who worked hard to avoid being hit. Madara showed up in the middle of the group knocking everyone away against the walls hard. They slowly climbed back to their feet to see Naruto already on Madara blocking another attack

"Such hatred. Good. But not as good as it should be. Perhaps if I take care of that girl…." Naruto narrowed his eyes and pushed harder before Madara jumped several times before stopping behind Sakura and slamming a Kunai into her upper back.

"No!" Naruto screamed making everyone turn to see what happened to see Sakura pause looking at Naruto as she fell to her knees. Madara twisted the kunai and pulled it back letting her wince and fall to the ground bleeding heavily. Naruto stood eyes wide, shocked seeing Sakura bleeding out on the ground as Madara stood laughing at him. "Sakura…" He said softly as the others watched as the air in the room shifted and Naruto started to change. His eyes went from their clear blue to a blood red as his body started to shift into the demon beast.

"Naruto, No!" He heard but ignored them all, only seeing Sakura's blood. Naruto crouched and was about to lunge when Madara disappeared.

"Now you have that look I like." Madara laughed. "Come find me when you realize it's all lost." Suddenly he and Kabuto were both gone making the others turn afraid of Naruto as Sasuke went to Sakura.

"You okay, Sakura?"

"I'll… I need to heal and rest… stop him…." She barely whispered as she tried to start healing what she could as the blood continued to flow. "Sasuke….. I…. I want him…." She said as tears started to gather.

"Sakura, just heal. Don't worry about him." Temari said as she knelt and tried to help stop the bleeding.

"No… no…. he needs to stop…." She looked over as Sasuke started walking over to Naruto only to have him roar and lift his arm to swing. "No!" She screamed making him look at her.

"He needs to see you're okay." Shikamaru said as he helped her stand up.

"Naruto, I'm okay. It's okay, just relax, I'm okay." She said as she grabbed Sasuke and had him help her closer to Naruto as he followed her with his blood red eyes. "Please." She whispered before collapsing forward making Naruto force the Kyuubi back in and catching her as she fell.

"Sakura…" She looked up pale at his blue eyes and slightly burnt face. "Sakura-Chan…"

"I'm okay. I stopped the bleeding… I just need to…. Rest….." She said with a small smile as he nodded.

"We'll stay here for the night and go back to the village in the morning." Sasuke said. "There's no way we can make it back with the wounds we all have."

"And definitely not the wounds Sakura has." Naruto said as he leaned against the wall completely worn out with Sakura leaning against him. "And I don't think I can move if I wanted to."

"That was stupid Naruto. Why would you let the Kyuubi take over?" Jiriaya asked walking closer as Naruto let his eyes close.

"He doesn't give me a choice when she's hurt. He takes over to protect her." He said as he dozed off.

"Let's set up." Kakashi said as everyone jumped to their work.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around to see Sakura still lying against him with a fire not far away where the others were sitting. Slowly he moved letting Sakura lay on the ground before he shakily got to his feet and walked over to sit.

"How you feeling?" Temari asked.

"Worn." He paused and looked up. "Kyuubi took over." He said looking at the others as they nodded. He ran a hand through his hair as she sighed. "Sorry, I didn't even…" He shook his head and looked back at Sakura.

"She healed what she could before she fell asleep with you." Temari said knowing what he was wondering. "She'll be fine." Naruto just nodded looking down sadly, thinking.

"You okay, Naruto?" Jiriaya asked as Naruto only nodded and stood up walking away to sit back with Sakura. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's fine. Ever since he has learned to control the nine tails he gets like that when he loses control." Kakashi explained. "He just needs to rest for a while and he'll be okay again." He looked over at Sasuke who was standing to the side.

"I'll take the Dobe out." Sasuke said making Jiriaya look between him and Kakashi who only nodded. Sasuke walked over grabbing Naruto's shoulder, pulling him to his feet and dragging him up the collapsed roof and into the night air. Jiriaya looked back at Kakashi.

"Sasuke's the only one other than Sakura that can go against Naruto on an even field. Well as even as you can get to the Fourth's son."

"Fourth's?" Temari asked. "As in the fourth Hokage?"

"The very same."

"Acts just like his mother though." Jiriaya smirked. "Has the same shape of eyes as her too."

"You have no idea." Kakashi smiled as he leaned back where he was sitting to look at the old sanin. "Although he has his moments he reminds me a lot of Minato-sensei."

"So why is Sasuke going against him?"

"It's how they cool Naruto down. If they don't he tends to sit and brood over what happened." Shikamaru explained. "In this case, it's about the fact he lost his control on the Kyuubi. He hates it when he doesn't have complete control." They felt the ground rumble slightly. "That would be them. They'll be back in no time if they keep that up."

"So what they go out beat each other and then come back to camp?"

"Something like that." Kakashi sighed. "Naruto needs to work things out and if that is taking his anger out training then that's what we do. You'd be surprised at the guilt he carries just from having his eyes turn to the Kyuubi's if he doesn't want them to."

"You don't know the half of it." They heard as Sakura slowly walked over making Temari stand and help her the rest of the way. "You don't see him when he is hidden away from the eyes of the village." She explained softly as she started healing her little wounds again.

"He is always worried about the villagers; nothing is going to change that." Kakashi said as he looked down at the book he pulled from his pouch.

The group sat quietly before Temari and Shikamaru finally moved off to sleep for the night. "How are you feeling, Sakura?"

"I'm fine. Just a little more to heal and I'll be fine…" She said softly.

"You're worried about Naruto." Kakashi said without looking up from his book.

"Do you expect me not to be? Madara could have killed me, Naruto, lost control, even if it was just until I stood back up. He's out there somewhere with Sasuke beating the crap out of each other after taking heavy wounds and being worn down by their jutsus against Madara and Kabuto. Besides, he is my fiancé after all." She said looking up seeing Jiriaya looking at her curious.

"What?"

"You and the kid are really together…"

"Yeah. We weren't going to with everything that had been going on but it all just fell into place and here we are." She said with a small smile. "He's changed a lot from when we were 13. You should talk to him and find out how much he has changed." She paused and looked at Jiriaya who was watching her carefully. "He's changed more than you could know." The camp fell silent before they heard the two drop into the room. Kakashi, Sakura and Jiriaya went to them and Jiriaya watched as Sakura took Naruto's weight while Kakashi took Sasuke.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. You should be sleeping." He said with a smile as she shook her head with a small smile as she eased him to the floor.

"Yes, and so should you. You two didn't go easy on each other." She said looking from Naruto's wounds to Sasuke's. "I don't understand why you two need to go out and nearly kill each other to feel better about something." She said getting to work.

"Well it's that or… your way, and there's no way in hell you're getting me to do that." Sasuke said making Sakura's green eyes snap to him to silence him as Naruto chuckled and laid back onto the floor.

"What are you laughing at?" Sacra asked Naruto as she turned her eyes back to him.

"Apparently Sas-gay has preferences." He laughed only to have Sasuke scoot and hit Naruto in the stomach making all of the airburst from Naruto's chest.

"Sasuke." Sakura said sternly as Kakashi stood back with a smile and Jiriaya watched the three interact. "Naruto, you say that again I'm not going to heal you. And for your information Sasuke we don't do that when we need to calm down."

"She's right." Naruto smiled pushing up to rest on his elbows. "That doesn't calm us down at all." Sakura gave a small jab making Naruto lose the grin that had spread across his face.

"You better watch it, she's going to kill you, Dobe." Sasuke smirked

"It's your fault Teme." Naruto said with a soft chuckle.

"We need to get you two healed before we all get some rest and go back in the morning to regroup what we're going to do. We need to look at what we have on them and find a way to beat them." Jiriaya said as Naruto and Sasuke looked away while Sakura bowed her head.

"We know how to beat them." Sakura said softly looking up into Naruto's blue eyes before looking over at Sasuke.

"We need to take the snake half breed out first." Naruto said looking at his old teacher. "We get him out of the way the three of us need to go full power on Madara. Now that we don't have to worry about an entire army attacking at the same time Sasuke and I should be fine taking Kabuto out and now we don't have a massive number of wonder along with the army the three of us should have no problem with Madara with everyone else as back up."

"And what about getting back to your own time? Do you have the scroll?"

"Once we defeat the reason we are here the jutsu will reverse and everything will be back to normal." Naruto looked away.

"We'll go back to the village destroyed and the dead are still dead." Sasuke clarified looking at Naruto as he forced himself to sit up as Sakura finished and turned to Sasuke to start healing. "There's no way to reverse the suffering and destruction but we can stop it from going much farther."

"This is the first time I've been so close to ending him and couldn't." Naruto said sitting hunched slightly as he thought about the earlier fight with Madara and Kabuto.

"Did you find a weakness?" Sakura asked the two as they both took a slow breath as they closed their eyes replaying the fight to look for opening and weaknesses.

"Kabuto fights at a distance. He is not skilled at close range now that he has Orochimaru in him." Sasuke said looking at her. "We need to get close to him. It's not going to be easy, his defenses to keep everyone away is skilled but the right maneuvering we could break through and tear him apart."

"Naruto?" Sakura looked at him as he sat with his eyes closed and brows furrowed. She scooted closer to him as Sasuke followed her and they watched as he slowly opened his blue eyes.

"Madara's skilled, there's no openings or weaknesses. Not that I found any way." He told them looking up.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"You've been fighting him one on one for the entire war and then some and you don't know anything to get to him?" Sasuke asked as Naruto shook his head.

"He uses the same basic jump jutsu I do but there's something off about it. I just can't figure it out." He sat trying to think as Sakura looked at Sasuke.

"That is probably the weakness in his jutsu." Sasuke said watching Naruto nod before lying back onto the ground closing his eyes with a sigh as he continued to try to think.

Before long Naruto opened his eyes to see Sakura cuddled beside him and the others, all but Jiriaya were sleeping. He slowly climbed to his feet and walked over to the fire where Jiriaya was sitting staring at the flames and sat beside him. Jiriaya glanced over at him as Naruto sat heavily.

"You should be sleeping." Jiriaya said softly as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, I should be doing a lot of things. Never was one for doing what I should." Naruto smirked making Jiriaya look at him. "I haven't really slept in a while. Even at home before the war; we were always working since we were always the strongest and top ninja. We were made Jonin when things started picking up and we protected the village and then some. The elders decided that to go on the missions we were needed for we had to be Jonin. We were promoted and sent out."

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"Well soon after that is when we started getting really attacked. It was tough to begin with but as soon as we started heading out as Jonin and in charge of missions the enemy pushed hard on us."

"So you were basically in war when you became Jonin."

"Basically. And things got worse when Sakura and me started. The villagers dealt with me and were happy that I saved the village from Pain and have been protecting them since, but were not happy when they found out Sakura and I were together. They wanted protection but they didn't want me to be with anyone from there."

"That had to be hard."

"Yeah, got better when Sakura told them all off. They started treating her like me, but she always refused to leave every time anything happened." Naruto smiled at Sakura sleeping to the side. "She's so stubborn some times."

"Just what you need." Jiriaya smirked as Naruto nodded and chuckled.

"The villagers gave up on their little talks when Granny named me the sixth Hokage."

"And you are going to get married to her." Naruto looked at him with a smile and nodded.

"Yeah. We wanted to this year but the war threw everything off. Shikamaru and Temari are planning theirs too. We're the only ones planning weddings the others are still just dating."

"So you've been doing pretty well."

"Yeah, was doing pretty well with you training me and then you were killed. Took down the head of Akatsuki and almost released the Kyuubi. After that, it was all training with the toads and eventually I was able to control the Kyuubi and train with the Foxes for a little bit. My friends never let me relax for a minute." He gave a small smile and he looked down.

"I'm sorry I died."

"Yeah. So am I." He said nodding. The two sat talking about all of Naruto's adventures and what has happened since he was 13 until the sun rose and the others started to wake up.

Naruto walked into the little room where Sakura was sitting with Tsunade talking low. He stopped at the doorway watching as Sakura shook her head and turned her bright green eyes to him.

"Did you find anything, Naruto?"

"Nothing we didn't already know. I have the Foxes tracking them and Sasuke's looking into a few things to see what he can find out. Should only take a couple days before we find something out." Tsunade watched as Sakura sighed and nodded.

"Do you think you'll find any trace of them? I heard you did some damage to them." Tsunade asked.

"Madara will come from hiding at some point. He thinks he forced me to lose control of the Kyuubi and he thinks Sakura is dead."

"What are you going to do when word gets out that you're not transformed and Sakura is alive?"

"As long as he thinks he killed her…." Naruto paused looking at Sakura for a moment. "As long as he thinks she's dead she's safe from him and we have an advantage. As for me…. I've reverted back in the past, there's no telling that I wouldn't have if she really had been…" He trailed off as Sakura shook her head.

"Naruto, the only way he'll come out is if he knows you're still transformed."

"I know." He looked away as Tsunade looked at him confused when Sakura stood quickly.

"Naruto…" She looked at him as he refused to look at her. "Naruto, you can't do that. The stronger power you put out the easier it is for Kyuubi…."

"I know but it's the only way we can get them to think I've lost complete control." He looked up at her as she stopped in front of him. "Besides, Shikamaru, Temari and Kakashi are going to be following me."

"What happens if you really do lose control? What then? Sasuke is the most powerful out of them and he can't put you down when you use a little of the power, what will happen if you lose control?"

"You don't have to worry about that."

"Of course I do, Naruto. I can't go out with you and the others if I'm supposed to be dead, and I can't sit here while you could possibly transform and lose yourself….. Naruto, why aren't you worried about any of this?" He smirked as he gently laid his hand on her cheek wiping a tear with his thumb.

"Because I have you. I just have to think of you and I can hold control. And if things get out of hand I know you'll be there to kick my ass in an instant." He smirked before he pulled a scroll from his pocket. "Here if you get word from Sasuke or Kakashi that something happened, use this. It will bring you within ten yards of me."

"Keep in touch." She said as Naruto gave a nod and wiped another tear from her cheek. "Be careful."

"I will Sakura-chan. You know I will." H whispered before he leaned closer giving her a deep kiss. "Stay safe, even from me." He said before he turned and was gone.

"What's going on?" Tsunade asked as she walked over to Sakura as she wiped her tears and tried to calm herself. "Where did he go?"

"He is going to use himself as bait to drag Madara from hiding. He's going to push himself to the thin line of control over the Kyuubi so we can finish this." Sakura explained clutching the scroll to her tightly before she walked from the room quickly, taking refuge on the roof in the back corner.

"Naruto left already?" Kakashi asked as they all stood and looked up at Sakura sitting with her knees to her chest as she looked blankly over the wall of the Uchiha clan compound. They saw Tsunade nod as Jiriaya looked curious. Sasuke started walking forward but was stopped by Temari.

"Wait." She said softly. "I'll talk to her. She needs a woman to talk to about this, one who knows a little about this kind of thing. And since your girlfriend isn't here, that leaves me. Besides you and Kakashi need to follow him in a little while." Sasuke looked at her for a minute before giving in and Temari went over to sit next to Sakura. She glanced at her before looking out at the horizon where Sakura was looking already.

"He's such an idiot." Sakura said softly. "Always running around and trying to stop everyone from getting hurt…"

"And he never worries about himself." Temari finished as Sakura nodded. "Well you got the best one out of all of them in my opinion; I wound up with the laziest." She smirked and saw Sakura begin to smile at her.

"I suppose I do. I still can't believe that only five years ago I was beating him up and telling him to get away from me. I thought he was the worst guy on the planet."

"Yeah, I remember. You two were always loud, him making a scene and you trying to quiet him."

"I just want this all to go away. I want to be our regular selves and just have a normal date, a normal wedding, and a normal ninja life. I know it can never happen but I still…"

"I understand." Temari nodded before hooking her arm with Sakura's as she leaned over to rest her head on Temari's shoulder.

The others stood talking softly as they watched the two women talk before leaning together. Tsunade looked at the others as they stood talking about how they were going to work and win the war.

"Is she going to be okay?" She asked.

"She'll be fine. It's the waiting, it kills all of us." Sasuke said before they all walked inside and Kakashi and Sasuke took off.

Sakura was teaching Tsunade some of her techniques she had created when a fox ran over twirling around Sakura's legs looking up with a smile.

"Cho." Sakura smiled brightly picking the little pink fox up with a smile.

"Sakura!" The fox cheered.

"Is Naruto alright?"

"He said to take you to him."

"Is he hurt?"

"He said he knows where they are and that I had to take you to him. He was pretending not to hurt but I could smell the blood and the pain." Sakura nodded before setting the fox down.

"Go tell Kakashi and the others. Tell them to meet me here." The fox nodded and ran off. "You should go back to the Hokage tower; we'll be back in no time." Sakura gave a small smile as Tsunade shook her head.

"I have Shizune covering everything."

"We are going to get him, it won't take us long and you can't just disappear." Sakura disagreed as she ran to a room and came back quickly to meet the others. Tsunade stood back as Sakura unrolled a scroll with a smile and started the hand signs moments before they disappeared. "Naruto!" Sakura called as she ran over to him when their vision cleared. Naruto was leaning against a cave wall with blood on his clothing where they were torn and in his hair and remnants still on his face. He slowly opened his eyes as Sakura knelt beside him.

"I found out what we need." He said softly as Sakura started healing as fast as she could. "They are going to try to come for me again in a few days."

"Is that who did this?"

"Yeah." He winced trying to sit up more to talk to everyone.

"We can talk at home." She said sternly pushing him back gently. "Where's your scroll?" She asked as she started going through his Jacket pockets to find a small red scroll.

"How many scrolls do you have?" Jiriaya asked.

"Master sealer." Naruto said looking up with a smirk. "Help me up." He said as Sasuke and Kakashi helped him up and to stay on his feet while Sakura worked on the signs to get them all back to the Uchiha compound.

"Lay him down." Sakura said as Kakashi and Sasuke helped Naruto walk into the room the two had been sharing since they arrived. Naruto winced as he was helped to sit on the bed. "Thanks." The two men nodded and let Sakura get to work healing the wounds as Jiriaya walked in with Tsunade. Both stood watching as Sakura closed each wound, and stopped the bleeding and pain until Naruto was as good as new.

"That was faster than I thought it would be." Tsunade said as Sakura moved from kneeling beside the bed to sit on it beside Naruto.

"I have my own techniques and after working with Naruto for so long I have been able to develop special techniques for him. I have smaller ones for each one of our generation but I have harder ones for Sasuke and full ones for Naruto."

"You're a genius." Naruto smirked as he released a scroll reviling a new shirt, pants and jacket.

"We all have our own thing to be genius with, and someone has to be the medic." She said making him smirk and start pulling on his shirt.

"So you don't hurt or have any wounds now?" Tsunade asked looking at Naruto who smirked before he winced.

"She stops the bleeding and takes wounds to a certain point of being healed. These were all small because I basically let the Kyuubi take over, but I still feel worn and sore from the Kyuubi's effects on my body."

"You let the Kyuubi take over?" Jiriaya was confused and not sure what to think hearing the Kyuubi had been allowed to take over.

"There are times when Kyuubi knows what to do best. But he knows if he doesn't behave himself he has Naruto to deal with." Sakura tried to explain.

"Besides I was alone trying to make then think the Kyuubi took over because they killed Sakura. Kyuubi's powers are more useful in those situations since it protects and does more damage when I let him have some control. I made sure no one was around for miles before I did anything." He reassured the older ninja. "I'm not the most wanted and feared ninja in the world for nothing."

"You let the Kyuubi, the beast that your father died sealing within you to save the village, out?"

"I don't let him roam free. I learned to control his power and hold him on a leash. I never asked to have this damn fox sealed in me but I'm not going to let it roam." Naruto said becoming angry that his old teacher would suggest he was putting others in danger. Naruto stood quickly and stiffly, the only ones to notice his reaction to pain were Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Naruto…" Sakura said walking closer as Jiriaya stood straighter looking at Naruto.

"There are reasons the seal was placed on you. It was only to let the chakra mingle with your own, it was meant to keep the beast chained up and safely away from you and everyone else. You release the seal and he will roam free."

"I may not be as skilled as my mother or father with their techniques of controlling Kyuubi but I know l what the hell he can do. I'll be damned if he goes anywhere near any of my friends or family." Naruto half shouted before he stormed from the room.

"Naruto." Sakura said as he left. "I know you are very close with Naruto and seeing him grown like this is hard to handle, but he really does know what he's doing, especially when it comes to the Kyuubi. Why do you think he went alone out there? He didn't want any of us to be anywhere near him in case something happened. Unless you want problems, I suggest you leave him alone. I realize who exactly you are and what you can do but you have no idea what any of us can do and if you hurt him any more than he already is-"

"Sakura." Sasuke stopped her. "Go check on the Dobe, he probably ripped something walking like that." She stood still, still giving Jiriaya a slight glare.

"Sakura." Kakashi said making her look at him before she walked out to find Naruto.

"She has gotten quite an attitude over the years." Tsunade said looking back at the two men who knew her better.

"She has gotten protective over Naruto over the years. Even more so after they started dating, but she's right, Naruto does know what he's doing." Sasuke said. "He's been afraid of the Kyuubi taking over since before he brought me back, so much that he's made me try to create jutsus that would stop him if it came to that."

"Stop him how?"

"Kill him." Jiriaya and Tsunade looked at him slightly shocked. "He would die before he went after others. He wants someone to be able to stop him if he loses himself, and tries to hurt the village, his friends or future family."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Sasuke, go make sure Sakura doesn't need any help." Kakashi said as Sasuke looked at him for a moment before leaving Kakashi to talk to the two older ninja. "Naruto has developed an even shorter attention span and it brought along a short temper, sometimes worse than his mother's."

"I can see that." Jiriaya said crossing his arms.

"He's not the fun loving, prankster kid anymore. He's the farthest thing from that now, you saw a bit of that after he was healed. He looks for the mission and does the job that needs to be done. He doesn't play his games like he used to. He's lost a lot in the last few years and it's taken its toll, on him and his friends."

"They all do seem much different than I knew them to be."

"Sakura used to be mild until something set her off and even then…" Tsunade trailed off thinking about the young woman.

"I don't want this to start changing history but I will tell you that you, Lord Jiriaya was killed and Naruto was taken to train with the toads only to have an enemy attack and destroy the village. Lady Tsunade, you, were nearly killed, while hundreds of ninja and villagers were killed, including me. Naruto showed up and defeated the enemy that no one was able to make a dent in. He somehow got the enemy to bring the souls of the dead back to life in the village and Danzo took lead putting out an order to kill Sasuke."

"Naruto didn't like that did he?"

"No and neither did the others. The short version, Naruto went up against Sasuke several times losing each time, until he trained with the eight tailed beast host, Bee and learned to control the Kyuubi power. He's been trying to do what he can ever since and it gets hard when an enemy like Madara or Kabuto breaks in and starts going on a killing rampage that he can't stop."

"He takes it all to heart."

"Always has, and it will never stop but we all understand what it does. We all feel it, especially those close to him." Kakashi watched as the two nodded slowly, understanding exactly what was going on. "Never doubt Naruto thinks of his friends and family first before making any diction, especially about the Kyuubi and its powers."

"Kakashi, Naruto's got a plan." Temari said looking at the three before they all followed to meet Naruto squatting with Sakura, Sasuke and Shikamaru looking at a map talking.

"So you think taking this trail here could pull the site away from the ones here?" Sakura asked as Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. They want me to go with them, if I can get them to believe I'm still under the Kyuubi's control when they get back they'll take me to they're base. If I can give them enough trouble when we start heading into the valley here, I should be able to get them held up and in a perfect spot for you guys to get there without being noticed."

"How are we going to get there?" Temari asked as Naruto smirked pulling scrolls from his pocket. "Scrolls?"

"If we can set up four scroll points on the ridge here I can struggle enough with them and then summon you guys there."

"You're not sealing me in the scroll." Temari said shaking her head as Shikamaru and Sasuke continued to study the map.

"No, as long as you hold these I'll be able to summon you to me. The only problem is getting the points on that valley without being seen or felt and there cannot be any chakra residue left over."

"Which means we're going for a trip." Sasuke said looking at Sakura who nodded.

"You think you can get them placed and back here without getting seen?"

"You know it's not a good idea to doubt one of your best friends and your girlfriend." Sakura said with a smile making him sigh and shake his head. "How are we going to get there and back in less than two days?"

"I left a chakra mark in the cave. I can get you two there and then just meet me back in the cave to go back."

"You're going to stay there and wait for them to show up?" Jiriaya asked making Naruto look up at him and nod with a small grin.

"I'm going to do more than just wait." He handed the scrolls over to Shikamaru. "Just be ready, I'll send a fox when they get me."

"If we have any hope of getting this done and getting home we need to do this right and fast the first time." Sasuke said as Naruto nodded.

"I'll grab your stuff." Temari said walking off as the group stood and Naruto rolled the map back up.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea? If what you've told us about Kabuto and Madara are true then rushing in to face them is not the best idea." Tsunade said looking at Naruto.

"I've been fighting against them since I was 13. You tend to learn a thing or two when you have the village relaying on you." Temari ran back out with a bag Jiriaya recognized from the room Naruto and Sakura had been in. She handed it to Naruto as he pulled it over his shoulder and looked at the others. "Be ready and make sure not to get caught." Sasuke and Sakura grabbed his shoulders as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before the three were gone in a flash of orange.

"We'll be back in no time." Sakura said as she and Sasuke used a jutsu they created and were off to place the markers. Naruto sat against the cave wall with a sigh. This was going to be a hard battle but he knew it was the only way to defeat the two enemy ninja and get their group back home. Naruto heard shuffling and knew the two were done.

"Get everything set?"

"Yeah, everything is placed and ready for when it's time." Sakura smiled.

"Just try to overpower any chakra feeling there could be in there. We were covered but the marks are putting off a little." Sasuke told his friend. "Don't do anything stupid Dobe."

"You know I won't, Teme." Naruto smirked as Sasuke walked out of the cave to look around a bit. Sakura walked closer with a small sad smile.

"Naruto, be careful. I know how reckless you can get when everyone's around fighting, but you need to be careful. We can all take care of ourselves and you know that."

"I know, Sakura. I just don't want any of you getting hurt, especially you." She gave him a small smile and shook her head.

"How do you think I feel with you getting hurt?" She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer kissing her.

"I won't be reckless." He said once he pulled back. "Now let's get you and Teme back so we can get this plan working." The two walked out to join Sasuke as Naruto pulled a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Sakura with a kiss to her cheek before he backed up and Sakura made two signs and poured her chakra into the scroll. In seconds, Sakura and Sasuke were gone in a blinding flash.

Naruto closed his eyes after the little fox was gone and willed the Kyuubi's powers to the surface. Once he had the powers, swirling it didn't take long for the two ninja to arrive. They looked at him as he jumped to his feet following Kyuubi's instincts and letting them flow. Kabuto grinned as he stood next to Madara.

"Looks like it's time you come with us, nine tails." Kabuto said. Kyuubi started to slip farther and farther out as Naruto held tight making sure he didn't go too far. Kyuubi growled at the two as he looked at them with two blood red eyes.

"You either do what we say or do we need to remind you why you will be following our orders?" Madara reminded him as Naruto told the Kyuubi to relax and let them get a little closer before giving a little trouble. Kyuubi gave a soft growl not liking to follow orders but knew he and Naruto would be dead if he didn't help the man he had come to respect, even if it was only a little. "Good." The two walked closer before Kyuubi suddenly jumped away reaching his powers out knocking the two away before Madara was suddenly beside him. "You come quietly or I will make sure you are unconscious until we start ripping you from the host painfully." Naruto calmed the Kyuubi enough to follow the two as they left surrounded but eight of Kabuto's puppets

"You owe me for not killing them." Kyuubi growled inwardly at Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah. How about this? After I bring the others to fight Kabuto and his puppets, you can have Madara. He is the reason you're sealed inside me after all."

"Free range?"

"Not completely. Enough so I can steer you away from the others if things get to close, but only if things get to close."

"Otherwise I have control and can do what I want?"

"If you don't hurt the others and stay away from them and another innocent by stander, and when you've killed the bastard you give control back so Sakura can start healing." Kyuubi thought for a minute as they eyed the valley coming into view. "Make your decision soon because we're going to need to through a little distraction and summon the others in another five yards."

"I agree to your terms."

"Good, now let get that little distraction. Use my chakra to summon the others." Kyuubi nodded before he turned his full attention back to the two ninja. He stopped and started to growl making the two look at him.

"It's only a pathway to the base. Walk." Kabuto said as Kyuubi crouched with a deep growl. "Nine tails." He said only to have Kyuubi lunge and attack before being thrown way by a large ninja from the clouds being controlled by Kabuto. Naruto quickly surfaced, summoned and receded as the others jumped from the places on the valley walls and attacked.

"Now?" The Kyuubi asked impatiently as Naruto smirked.

"Remember the deal. If you ignore the rules I will pull you back and not let you have any free will." Naruto warned before he landed beside Sakura. "Sakura-Chan, Kyuubi is taking more control, keep away." He said as he surfaced himself and she nodded before getting the word to the others and Naruto leaned back letting Kyuubi's power sore. Suddenly Kabuto's head spun to look at Naruto as he started to transform roaring as his now pure white eyes narrowed on Madara.

"What's going on?" Jiriaya asked as he stood beside Kakashi watching Naruto letting Kyuubi's power to flow with no control.

"He's letting Kyuubi take control to take on Madara." Kakashi said before he and Sasuke looked at Sakura as she landed beside them.

"Sasuke, Sakura, take Kabuto, we'll take the puppets." Kakashi said as the two nodded and charged dodging the puppets attacks and running straight at Kabuto. Kakashi and Jiriaya started after the four puppets that had turned their attention to Sakura and Sasuke. Shikamaru and Temari worked on another four puppets keeping them away from the others. Shikamaru knelt and started shifting the shadows and twisting them all about the two puppets going after Temari as she spun and sent a gust of razor sharp wind at another two.

Kakashi destroyed a puppet and turned to glance quickly at the others seeing Sasuke and Sakura working hard together to get their hands on Kabuto who was constantly avoiding them, Shikamaru and Temari were holding their own as was Jiriaya and Naruto and Madara seemed to be holding even. He turned and started after the second puppet after him, shifting to avoid being hit before landing behind the puppet destroying it. Jiraiya spun slicing his puppets apart and looked over as Sakura was thrown back hitting the rock wall of the valley hard enough to make some rock fall from the wall.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called as Sasuke quickly pushed harder as Kakashi and Jiriaya ran over to where Sakura tried to move with blood spilling from her mouth. "Sakura, don't move." He said as he looked over the wounds she had received from Kabuto.

"Help Sasuke…." She said wincing. "Kabuto is using his medical jutsus…." Kakashi nodded as Sakura leaned her head back trying to calm her body. Suddenly there was a roar from the side making everyone look over at Naruto as he started to transform more. "Naruto…" Sakura whispered before she started pushing herself to her feet as the Kyuubi's power flew out throwing Madara back into the wall of the valley. Reaching out with even more force hitting the wall knocking rocks down crushing Madara. As the rocks settled, Naruto pushed back to the surface and dropped to his knees breathing heavily with the pain of his wounds washing over him. he took a deep breath and looked up at Sakura as she smiled at him with tears in her eyes when suddenly Madara stood in front of Naruto. He looked up at the masked man as Sakura's heart raced in her chest and her body refused to move and Jiriaya watched not knowing what was going on with his old student.

"It's time come with us willingly. You need to learn you can't always win." Madara said reaching out, pulling Naruto to his feet as the puppets were all destroyed and Kabuto kept Kakashi and Sasuke from helping Naruto.

"You're right….." Naruto breathed out. "I can't win…" The others watched horrified at Naruto's words and injuries. Naruto looked up at Madara who was still holding him on his feet, his dull blue eyes suddenly sparked with fire as he disappeared. Madara looked around confused before a flash of orange was seen. He was just barely able to block the attack as he and Naruto stood face to face, kunai crossed in front of them. "Not all the time anyway." Madara warped making Naruto flash.

"And you really think you can win now nine tails?" Madara asked as they clashed again. He spun and twisted and warped around finally knocking Naruto to the ground with a large Kunai in his chest. Madara pulled another and stood over Naruto. "Any last words, Lord Hokage?" Naruto pushed himself to his knees breathing raggedly as he pulled his feet under him and he glared up at Madara.

"Yeah…." He looked at the others as Temari and Shikamaru had gone to help Sasuke and Kakashi while Jiriaya watched worried and Sakura looked at him frightened.

"So what is your last wish before we rip the beast from your body?"

"My last words… my last wish…" Suddenly Naruto was gone and behind Madara pushing a seal and his hand into Madara's body with a Kunai to his throat. "Is for you to know, you can never win against someone like me and my friends. There is no hope for someone only bent on killing and hurting for personal gain. My last wish is for you and the rest of your scum to wither away and die like the animals you are. No one goes after my friends, my family, my village, and gets away with it." He whispered as he gammed the kunai into Madara's neck making his eyes go wide before he fell with a deathly thud and Naruto stumbled a step before going to one knee. He looked at Kabuto who had stopped and looked over shocked.

"Naruto!" He heard Sakura call as his eyes flashed with fire and he pushed himself back to his feet looking stronger than ever as he started towards Kabuto who spun trying to run. Naruto used his summoning technique calling his foxes and sending them after the man before he dropped to the ground beside Sakura who he wrapped in a tight hug as the others dropped round him battered and exhausted.

"Naruto, you and Sakura need to get taken care of fast." Temari said as she looked at the blood flowing from his wounds. He nodded pulling a scroll from his pocket and handing it to Sasuke.

"I don't have the chakra…." He trailed off as Sasuke took it with a nod. He unrolled it and let his chakra pour into the design before everything went black.

Naruto opened his eyes, blinking several times to clear his vision as he looked up at the ceiling of a little room. He saw Sasuke smirk at him from beside the bed.

"About time you woke up Dobe. You had the others worried for a while there."

"Yeah, well you know me….. How are the others?" He asked hoarsely. "Everyone get back okay?"

"Yeah. When I used the scroll, it took us to the Hokage office…. In our time. It also seems the Village is still standing." He said with a smirk as Naruto smiled.

"So we're home?"

"Yeah. Looks that way. Good thing too. I don't think the Tsunade from our childhood would have been able to deal with the wounds we all took from that fight. You and Sakura took the worst though." Naruto nodded as he closed his eyes before they flew back open and he looked at his friend.

"Jiriaya…"

"He is still in the normal time line. He didn't come back with us."

"The scroll probably wouldn't have allowed it." Naruto mused as he relaxed back into the bed.

"Get sleep Dobe. Tsunade is taking care of the village while you're out, but the longer your wounded the more people are going to start thinking."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point, Teme." Naruto smirked before Sasuke stood and left. Taking a slow breath, he turned his head to see Sakura lying beside him bandaged. He tried to move but his body refused to listen and shooting pain through his body making his breath catch in his throat. He relaxed himself and focused on pushing the pain away as he slowly reached over, gently brushing his bandaged hand against her cheek. Her eyes slowly fluttered open making him smile as he was met by the pale green eyes he had fallen in love with all those years ago in the academy.

"Naruto…" she whispered with a smile as he pushed everything but his thought of her away as he pushed himself up to lean over and kiss her. "Naruto, you're wounds…"

"Will heal. Sakura-Chan…." He shook his head looking at her intensely.

"I'll be fine, I just need to rest." She smiled at him as he leaned back and watched her try to shove her own pain away to move closer to him and lean her head on his chest. "Sleep for now, Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled as he dozed off with Sakura cuddled beside him slipping into her own dreamland.


End file.
